Made it!

Monterey Bay from Seaside, CA just as the clouds were clearing off. 

There's a kind of distant feeling in realizing you're on the opposite side of the Continental Divide than you're used to. I arrived in Monterey, CA a little over a week ago on the 18th and was admittedly overwhelmed. I'd never gotten settled after moving from the south to the midwest when I was younger. Although I'd grown used to it, the idea of it being "home" never did happen for me. It's impossible to ever feel truly settled somewhere that your mind won't let you see as "home." It was a new kind of culture shock to spend time with my husband on a military installation and also be trying to settle into being 3 hours behind what I was used to after leaving the lush green of the Appalachians for the opposite coast.

California is beautiful. It's wild and different with scrubby trees instead of oaks and maples. The wind blows no less than it did when I lived in Kansas, and the ocean is on the wrong side when I face north. It's disorienting and exciting. I'd never seen the Pacific ocean before and suddenly here it is big and in my view all the time!

Maybe people fall in love with this place so fast because they have to cross miles of desert before reaching this fertile spot. I can relate to that. By the time I'd driven all the way across New Mexico, Arizona, and eastern California, I was ready for some fertile green lands. It really is breathtaking here.

But then I try to call my family and realize it's too late in the evening, I think of friends who are so far away I am honestly unsure of when I'll be able to see them again, and I think of my household goods still waiting to be moved out with me. It takes a deep breath and a firm resolve to not weeny out to keep me from being upset.

I like the adventure of adversity. For some reason, I've always enjoyed testing my mettle even if no one sees it but me. Mostly, being the only person to be aware of my personal battles makes the reward of coming through victorious even sweeter!

This move is riddled with adversity compounded by the fact that I am redefining my business at the same time.

I'm so ready to continue the adventure of this! It's been exciting so far and I am thrilled to see what comes next. ...It would be great to get our furniture, though. Kipping on the air mattress is one excitement that can wear off fast.

What's in a Name

Two years ago this month, I started selling under the name TuckooandMooCow. At the time I began, selecting the name was based on several factors, but the primary one was that I already had some feedback under that name and when starting out on Etsy, that is important. The name had been chosen as a reference to both James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and to my husband and I. I'd picked it when I created an account on Etsy specifically for buying things to use in our wedding, so the reference seemed cute and sweet.

Flash forward two years.

My work has evolved and grown a lot since those early days. Not only has the detail in the paintings increased, but the quality of the pendants has evolved and bettered.

As I look back--and also as I look forward--I can see one element that needs to evolve that no longer belongs: the name TuckooandMooCow.

Now, before any of you sigh and think it's a pity because it's such a cute name, consider this:

The name TuckooandMooCow doesn't really say anything about what I do. It doesn't tell you who the artist is and while it expresses the quirky side of me, it isn't the easiest to remember which is a problem with a business name.

So what name will I use now?

Good question! I'll be using my own. I want to take ownership of my own work in every way. If I were selling strictly my larger paintings, I would never even have considered the cute name, I would have gone with my own all along. Now, as I my work moves into more high quality settings and chains, has more detail, and is more uniquely me, it needs to be clearly all me.

As another point, while my husband used to help me with my little biz, he no longer will be able to as he begins his own career in the US Air Force. This means that the reference to him in the name doubly doesn't make sense, so it is definitely ready to be retired.

From now on, you'll be able to find me by my own double first name "Sarah-Lambert." The transition process won't be immediate, but by June, everything that once bore the name TuckooandMooCow will now bear my own name.

I'm so excited for this change even if I am a little nostalgic about the name TuckooandMooCow.

I'm excited to share a new logo with you!

I'm excited to bring you all more quality pieces!

Most importantly, I'm excited to grow.